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Sunday, 19 October 2014

Villers Bocage Campaign - Game 2

Today we played the second
scenario of the Villers Bocage campaign for Chain
of Command after a very long spell (first
game played in August). All details of the campaign and background can be
found in the previous pots.

If you wonder the reason
for using the photo above to illustrate the post, just read through to the
end...

I played the Germans and
after taking into consideration the casualties of the previous engagement
(7 casualties and the squad NCO), I ended up with two full squads and a small
4-men team with an LMG. My force moral was adjusted by -1 after rolling all the
effects of losing the battle (all information available in At
the Sharp End, the campaign supplement for Chain of Command).

As we were 4 players this
morning, we agreed to do it Big
and attached a full tank troop to the British and 2 Pz IVs and a Pak 40 to the
Germans (they were in defensive rol here). The second game corresponds to the
Scenario 2 The Probe of the main rule book, where the defending player need to
prevent the attacking player to reach his tactical edge of the table (= being
to at least 12" of the enemy’s table edge by the end of a turn).

Below is a photo of the
gaming table, a typical Normandy landscape, with the farm indicating that we
were fighting in the outskirts of Villers Bocage, the main campaign objective.
I decided to organise my defensive line around the house, cover my right flank
with a minefield and deploy the panzers on my left.

This photo also illustrates the
position of the jumpoff points at the end of the patrol phase. The British had
a total of three jumpoff points, one was placed across the table facing the
farm, and the remaining two on the extreme left of their line. We (Germans)
concentrated the jumpoff points around the farm, in line with our master plan.

In the initial game phases,
the British decided to launch the tanks through the road leading to the farm
and to deploy a first infantry squad in one of the jumpoff points at the
extreme left. With all the enemy tanks (in principle at least) committed, our
move was to deploy the Panzer IVs facing the British infantry, with the idea of
steamrolling the infantry, capture the two jumpoff points, then turn right and
move north to contest the Shermans and the Cromwell. A cunning plan indeed!

Initially everything was as
planned: the MG and the HE fire of the tanks made several casualties, the junior
leader was wounded and the unit started to accumulate some shock.
Understandably, the British squad run to hide behind a high bocage wall, so the
Panzers decided to move flat out to capture the jump off points ignoring the
squad for the time being. I then deployed an infantry squad in the nearest jumpoff
point to wipe out the survivors, but given the distance I estimated that
will need around 2-3 phases to chase the British.

Everything under control in
our left flank, I turned my attention now on my right as the Shermans
approached the house, with the idea of deploying the AT gun as soon as I had
good LOS. I also reserved one CoC dice to ambush the British with my
Panzerschrecker tan-hunter team with the conditions were good for that.

But in the following
British phase, a PIAT team emerged just on the flank of one of our Panzers
before they could capture the jumpoff point. The hunter hunted??? ...NOOOO...
they fell miserably to activate the bloody rocket. You have to see the laugh of
the German players, who only had to made a left turn with the tank and crush
the poor British under the tacks of the panzer.... ja,ja,ja (evil laugh)
the victory was ours!!!

In the meantime and without
much fuss, the mauled British squad had jumped over the bocage wall, and move
inside an enclose field at top speed ... until suddenly the British players
announced that they were using a Chain of Command dice to finish the turn and suddenly
burst in laughter....

I could hardly believe
it... we were so absorbed by the action and so eager to capture the jumpoff
points and crush the enemy moral that we totally forgot the most important
aspect when playing a scenario: the bloody VICTORY CONDITIONS!!!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen,
the British infantry had subtly moved and reached the edge of our line, had
finished the turn with the CoC dice and therefore had won the
game... the laugh of the British still reverberates in my ears. Total game length: 45 minutes

Game summary (click to enlarge)

Second game and second
victory to the British. Our only consolotation was that we made a few more
casualties to the British vs none on us... Listen Tommy, lesson learned and
next time it won't be so easy... and now, keep on laughing

Lovely looking table, but forgetting the victory conditions!!! When I play some of my chums I have to remind them of the victory conditions in certain games, as they can get carried away by the action unfolding in front of them.

About Anibal Invictus

A fairly experienced Spanish wargamer, based in Madrid. Together with a group of friends founder of "Club Dragón" in the early 80s. A truly TooFatLardies gruppie since a first love encounter in 2008, I regularly play the Napoleonic, WWI, WWII and Vietnam periods.